What happened to Ricky

[Hindsy1987]

Ricky Fowler for a while there was my favourite player to watch, now he's slipped out of the top 50 and still hasn't managed a Major(he's come close sure) what do you think lead to his downfall ? And will we see him rise back up the rankings 

[GolfSpy_APH]

I enjoyed seeing his resurgence last year. He's been a bit lost for a while, much like JT and Spieth in a way have been. I kinda think it's more him staying the same level while others have taken a true step forward in getting better. 

Add in new young players that are longer and just more talented and you have a good player that will drop down the world ranking.

[NM01]

Rickie’s swing was always going to be one that would have hot stretches and then cold stretches. His putting isn’t kept him around.

He like Spieth had a stretch of golf where putting was his saviour. He also found out he had eye issues which is why he wears sunglasses now. He also had some other injuries along the way. 
 

He was changing irons and/or shafts pretty regularly trying to find something.

Then add in he got married, which always changes things for pros. He’s outside the top 100 in almost every strokes gained category, especially the ones that count the most. 

Lastly he’s been around for 15 years. Hes around 35 years old and the younger guys on tour now are far better and the fields keep getting deeper. 

As a Rickie fan he’s right where I would expect him to be for a 5’8” golfer with a swing that is very timing oriented 

[Shapotomous]

Besides getting married  ....

I think he got older and lost a little bit of the ultra athletic hand - eye coordination and exquisite timing his swing needed and he was used to having.  I don't remember if he had a slight injury that may have changed things a little or not.  As we age physical adjustments are necessary and some swings are easier to adjust than others. 

At the ultra elite level they play at those tiny adjustments have a huge impact on their standing in the golf world.  The difference on tour between the #3 scoring average and #66 scoring average is less than a shot per round.  The same single shot separates #66 from #160.  There is a very small margin of error out there.

[NM01]

1 hour ago, Shapotomous said:

Besides getting married  ....

I think he got older and lost a little bit of the ultra athletic hand - eye coordination and exquisite timing his swing needed and he was used to having.  I don't remember if he had a slight injury that may have changed things a little or not.  As we age physical adjustments are necessary and some swings are easier to adjust than others. 

At the ultra elite level they play at those tiny adjustments have a huge impact on their standing in the golf world.  The difference on tour between the #3 scoring average and #66 scoring average is less than a shot per round.  The same single shot separates #66 from #160.  There is a very small margin of error out there.

He changed his swing a couple times. He worked with Butch to be a little less flat then got away from that.

He had an injury in 2018 and then a back injury last year. Iirc it was sometime around playing muirfield. 

[vandyland]

He lacks the firepower that is required to truly compete these days. No longer seems to have another elite skill (relative to other tour pros) to overcome that. Maybe I have been "radicalized" by a few golf podcasts but as distance continues to be the key differentiator at the big tournaments, I feel like there is less room for non-bombers ever anymore. I actually kind of forgot he was still on tour. 

[bens197]

Life happened. Priorities shift when you’re a dedicated husband and parent. Same thing happened to Spieth and arguably, DJ among others. 
 

The talent is still there. The time to commit to mastering your game is now occupied by his home life. 

[NM01]

3 hours ago, vandyland said:

He lacks the firepower that is required to truly compete these days. No longer seems to have another elite skill (relative to other tour pros) to overcome that. Maybe I have been "radicalized" by a few golf podcasts but as distance continues to be the key differentiator at the big tournaments, I feel like there is less room for non-bombers ever anymore. I actually kind of forgot he was still on tour. 

His putting left him and his swing was always susceptible to hot and cold streaks. 
 

He’s two yards in average behind bahtia. So he has plenty of fire power off the tee to compete. He’s dealt with a back injury last year and a putting stroke that no longer save his bad rounds along with a short game the that’s bar but not good enough.

hea currently ranked 98 in FedEx cup.